Use Of Anaphora In Jane Eyre

Although the passage foreshadows the events later throughout the novel, Dickens ultimately uses a pathetic tone toward the social conditions of France before the French Revolution through the use of anaphora in the first half of the passage and the diction throughout the second half of the passage.

Dickens describes the conditions of the village with a pathetic tone; throughout the passage, the village, and its people are described with uses of anaphora to emphasize the conditions that he so despises. Furthermore, the passage uses short descriptions to summarize the pathetic that he has. For example, the first paragraph ends with: “... [T]he men and women who cultivated it, a prevalent tendency towards an appearance of vegetating unwillingly--a

dejected disposition to give up, and wither away” (Dickens 56). As a result, this quote succinctly describes the overall social conditions and tone the author has; the phrases “vegetating unwillingly” and “dejected disposition to give up” represents the social conditions to give up on their life to “wither away”, so to speak, which invokes empathy and pity toward the village and its people. Consequently, the overall passage not only foreshadows how the social conditions that lead to the French revolution, but also reveals the pathetic tone that Dickens uses to illustrate said social conditions.

However, the pathetic tone is mostly demonstrated through the use of anaphora in the descriptions of the village and the diction used throughout the Monsieur the Marquis’ perspective.

Take the long lists of the physical descriptions of the village: “The village had its one poor street, with its poor brewery, poor tannery, poor tavern, poor stable-yard for relay of post-horses, poor fountain, all usual poor appointments. It had its poor people too” (Dickens 56). The previous quote is only of the many uses of anaphora-in this case the repetition of the the word poor-that emphasizes the overall destitute conditions of the people in the period, thus, revealing Dicken’s pathetic tone toward the social conditions. In addition, the passage continues to use anaphora to illustrate the cause of the destitute conditions: “... the tax for the lord, tax local and tax general, were to be paid here and to be paid there … until the wonder was, that there was any village left unswallowed” (Dickens 56). As a result, Dicken’s develops a pathetic mood for the reader by emphasizing that the village is “poor” from the superfluous taxation of the people. Dicken’s sense of pity is further illustrated by the final phrase “until the wonder was, that there was any village left unswallowed”, which envelops and summarizes his thoughts about the social conditions leading to the French Revolution. Therefore, the use of anaphora not only emphasizes the impoverished conditions of the village and the overall conditions of France, but ultimately foreshadows the conditions that lead to the French Revolution and other future events in the novel along with the overarching tone used during those

events.

Finally, Dickens uses diction to portray his tone through the shift of perspective and tone of the passage-from narration to the perspective of Monsieur the Marquis. It is shown through Monsieur the Marquis’ descriptions of the people as he rides through the village that “the slow sure filing down of misery-worn face and figure” (Dickens 56) represents the overall pity and empathy Dicken’s has toward the villagers. Furthermore, the phrase represents the overall thought of the the villagers upon seeing Monsieur the Marquis-we are being taxed again-and how they view the aristocracy; illustrating the pathetic tone used by Dickens to emphasize with the villagers. This pathetic tone is furthered through the dialogue Monsieur the Marquis has with the Mender of Roads. Monsieur the Marquis has the overall tone of condescension and is accusing the Mender of Roads with the use of diction such as “May the Devil carry away”, “such vermin” (referring to the general populous of France), and “Bah!”(Dickens 57). Whereas, the mender of roads uses contrasting diction of complacency and obsequiousness: “Your clemency” and “gracious permission” (Dickens 57). Thus, Dicken’s illustrates the social conditions that the common populace have to face against the first estate and invokes a feeling of pity with his pathetic tone. Consequently, Dicken’s uses diction in perspective of Monsieur the Marquis to demonstrate his overall tone toward the social conditions and foreshadow the conditions that lead to the French Revolution.

In conclusion, Dickens uses a pathetic tone toward the social conditions in France at the time by using anaphora to emphasize the destitute conditions and diction to demonstrate the complacency of the general populous.